2015 -- Lose 20 pounds by Mother's Day -- 2015!

[SweetLou]

Hi!  I just saw a thread from 2014 where a group of mom's and non-mom's set a goal to lose 20 pounds by Mother's Day.  Anyone want to start one for 2015 with me?  I have about 35 pounds to lose total, but 20 by May sounds like a good goal to me. 

I am going to try to get my 10,0000 steps in and I am joining a gym this weekend to add strength training and cardio. 

[Carolhg]

Now that is good news!😊

[dancefoxtrot]

welcome geedee,

We are the women warriors as Ceci named us and we are supportive. 

Some things that help me are. Logging everything that I eat. Eating lots of filling and healthy veggies of all types just not potatoes. Eat no fried, fast, junk food. Kick them to the curb (with the healthy leg, of course.) Reduce portion sizes of cereals and breads and only eat whole grains. No white flour, sugar, pasta, soda or fruit juice or drinks.,etc. Eat a piece of fruit instead. 

It is partly math. Burn 3500 calories more than you eat in a week and you probably will lose 1 lb.  So if you set up to burn 500 more than you eat for 7 days - good bye 1 lb. We need about 1250 cals even if we are lying in bed all day so don't starve yourself. Drink lots of water to stay hydrated. 

Set an exercise goal to burn the extra weight like 10,000 steps a day, if you can, and do it everyday unless injured or sick. If you need to start more slowly fine, just do what you decide to do. If you need to bike, or swim, great, just do it. You can dance & walk? Just do it.

If you have a buddy to do it with all the better. When walking I sometimes call my sister, 3000 miles away, and ask her to talk and walk with me. 

When a part of you whines, makes excuses, just laugh it off and go for the goal. If you give in the avoidant part, you will sabotage yourself. Thoughts lie and make up all manner of excuses. Laugh and make the healthy choice. It will be a habit in 3 to 4 weeks. You will be healthier, happier and proud and we will cheer you on. 

Happy healthy wishes to you,

Barbara G

[dancefoxtrot]

Wahoo is right Gone for,

Congrats. You are moving at a steady pace and just keep it up. After MD maybe we can aim for the 4th of July. We can keep setting goals and making them. This Sunday it will be 6 weeks to MD.

Barbara 

[dancefoxtrot]

Hi MD challengers,

Good news for me is I'm up walking on my sprained ankle without pain or extra swelling. I did some weed pulling today, got good and hot in the 80 F weather and have taken 3150 steps so far. That is good for a start and will add a few more by bedtime. 

I'm still eating carefully in spite of not burning near as much.

Barbara G

[geedee]

Hi dancefoxtrot, thank you for the advice. Went out today and covered over 15,000 steps and feel pretty good. The diet is still a work in progress. I have picked up some bad habits over the years. I am determine, motivated, to accomplish my goal to lose 20 lbs by 2nd week of June. Saying good bye to the girl scouts cookies 🙂

[dancefoxtrot]

geedee

bye to cookies good move. 15000 steps way to go. Keep at it. Log your food it helps to be aware of everything you put in your mouth. It is eye opening.

Walking a little more today made about 6700 steps on my healing ankle. Good to be moving more on it. 

Let's keep at it,

Barbara 

[geedee]

Dancefoxtrot, it's good to hear you are able to exercise again.
Thank you for the input concerning weight lose and logging what I eat. It's cold but after reading other posts I too can step-in-place at home.😊

[dancefoxtrot]

Hi all of you walking, biking & dancing warriors,

So the ankle is healing and I made 9263 yesterday much to my surprise. Today I need to move myself out of this comfy chair after sleeping in. Nice to get the full 8 hrs in spite of staying up to 5 AM. What was I thinking?

On the way back to 142 tomorrow from 142.8 this AM. Got scared when I bounced back to 146.1 a few days back. My goal is 142 or less by April 2 so unless I sabotage myself I'm on my way.

Okay at 3:20 pm so it is past time to walk and it is a lovely day outside. 

Geedee, glad that you are stepping in place when the weather's bad outside. Dancing tends to burn more so play your favorite tunes and dance like nobody is watching. 

Keep up the steady progress whether healing or getting healthier or losing those extra pounds.

Now move self, move,

Barbara G

[mrsblak43]

Getting a late start but I think this challenge is for me.  I'm committing to this - for me

[dancefoxtrot]

Welcome MrsBlak Welcome. 6 weeks minus 2 days to Mother's Day. With careful eating and burning up calories 6 lbs is a reasonable goal. 

What is your goal and how are you going to get there?

People here are supportive and we all are trying to meet our goals. I have more steps to take this evening so heading for a dance class tonight. Just took a walk but  only made 2.06 miles so far.

Up out of this chair in 5 mins.

Keep logging food and stepping.

Best,

Barbara G

[mrsblak43]

Sounds good, I was shooting for 5pds. I'm working out 2-3 times a week.
Walking when ever, where ever I can. Eating is a work in process.

[mzlynn750]

I'm down 20lbs since January I finally realized I've been in denial. I always thought I could eat what I want go to the gym work out really hard and that would keep the weight coming off but it hasn't. I worked for a while and now is time for a change I'm a very picky vegetarian bUT I only way about 5 vegetables. So this week I'm starting healthy eating. I'm gonna stick to no cans or 10g Max per day. Hopefully in the upcoming weeks I'll see a change. Only problem is I'm barely getting in 500-700 calories per day eating only fruits and greens and low fat cheeses. I do eat shrimp but not enough to make up for the caloric deficit. I'm gonna keep trying though I crave my idea not societys ideas of my perfect body. I just know I can do it!

[geedee]

Morning Mzlynn,
The good news is you are moving, that's the place to start. Keep reading nutritional, fitness news in magazines and posts from the bloggers. They share a treasure chest of knowledge for us beginners to sample. Make it fun and keep enjoying your weight lost.
Happy fitbitting.

[KathyAnn]

Hi Mzlynn.  You CAN do it!  I'm concerned that perhaps your body isn't getting the nutrition it needs to be healthy.  500-700 calories a day just isn't enough to get the nutrients you need.  You might find yourself losing better with a more balanced diet.  Online you can find the American Heart or American Diabetes recommendations.  Do any of your local grocery stores have nutritionists?  They often will help you for free or for a modest cost.  Are you tracking your calories to be sure of the true number you are getting?  OFten we are eating more calories than we realize.  If you go to the fitbit food log - you can enter your weight and what and how fast you want to lose and it will give you a recommended calorie count.  Good luck.  Stay healthy!

[dancefoxtrot]

Hi Mzlynn,

Welcome

Remember protein for repairing muscles which you can find in beans and fish. 

From what I understand that we burn about 1250 a day even if we are lying down all day. So be careful about not slowing down your metabolic rate by only eating 500-700 calories.  The idea is to eat 500 calories less than you burn for a week to lose 1 lb. 

Best of health to you,

Barbara 

[Bobbinyc]

Mzlynn, I think you got a few of us worried.  500 calories is just not enough nutrition.  Also, if you lost 20 lbs since January  that is terrific!!! You don't need to lose faster than that.  1-2 pounds weekly is healthiest. That gives your body a chance to adjust and not think it has to go into survival mode due to starvation.  Too few calories and our bodies go into starvation mode and our metabolism slows.  Also, you want to lose fat, not water or muscle.  for that you need to eat a well balanced diet and get some physical activity to use your muscles.  if you are a vegetarian (or mostly veg.) you probably should learn about protein sources.  It isn't just eating vegetables, though we all need to eat a lot of them.  Do you eat beans? lentil?  I agree, checking with a nutritionist is a great idea.  

 I also agree with you.  It isn't about society's (advertising companys) ideas of how we are supposed to look.  Women's bodies aren't like that.  It is about health - lack of illness, good energy, clear thinking, calm, feeling vitality.

[Bobbinyc]

After being completely sedentary for a year due to a foot injury, I had gained a lot (30lbs)  (eating sweets when I felt sorry for myself didn't help)  I have been eating well and gradually walking more for the past 2 months with almost no weight change.  Today the scale finally dropped 3 pounds.  I'm delighted.  Hopefully my metabolism will start getting the message now and I'll have a slow steady loss.  It's so wonderful to have the support to continue with eating well and walking.

[Jophiel]

Hi Bobbinyc 😃
You are not alone !!! I too was sedentary for 20 months due to stroke, gained 30 lbs and 8 weeks later I've finally started losing. It has been slow but my body is feeling south stronger and better. Keep up the good work 👍 You can do it. Be sure to treat yourself occasionally for we all need to be rewarded for progress. FYI... I find drinking all your water rewuiremts really helps me.

[dancefoxtrot]

Jophiel

Sounds like you are doing great. The stronger and lighter we get the easier it is to move. Good to read of your progress from stroke to strong.

Barbara

[dancefoxtrot]

Hi Bobbi

Well you were probably building muscles back and they are dense so no weight loss showing up until now. 3 lbs is a sweet surprise. How is your foot feeling with the increased use now? 

I twisted my ankle 13 days ago but I was lucky that I healed quickly and was able to start walking again after 5 days icing and elevating Still a little tender to the touch but able to walk and teach my older adult exercise classes on Monday and Wednesday. Now yesterday I took far too few steps and left my Fitbit home charging when I went for surgery to have a cataract removed from my rt eye. So at 4:30 pm I had my first meal of the day. It was salad with blue cheese and walnuts, grilled salmon with Moroccan spices, broccolini and chickpeas. I even had a small piece of pizza that my son's friend was eating. Yummmm. My son treated me to this tasty restaurant dinner after surgery. It was an unusual but lovely birthday. I didn't want dessert because I was so full. I'm sure I exceed my allotment for an inactive day in one huge meal but today I'm back to more careful calorie counting that is for sure! This AM I'm 143.3 just 1.3 short of my birthday goal so not bad for the sprained ankle slow down in there. Now it is keeping the slow weight loss with healthy eating, dancing and walking that I can continue until I hit my next 140 goal. Brooombroom revving up my engine now. 

Today I can walk my 10 k after checking in with the eye surgeon. Still have to wear those huge dark glasses that they give you. 

Loved what you wrote to our new member.

All the best in revving up your metabolic engine Bobbi. Do you ever turn on music and dance around? That usually raises my pulse rate which I think is related to getting the BMR moving up again.

Have a great day and keep at it. 

Barbara